Being a commercial pilot in my twilight years, it never ceased to amaze me how a pilot of a single engine aircraft with a simple fuel management system could run out of fuel. Obviously it only happened to pilots who were unprofessional, badly trained or just ‘plane’ careless.
Nonetheless, it can happen to any one of us, and in recent years it has happened to me on no less than two occasions.
I had purchased a Piper Cherokee 180C with an engine and propeller that had 800 hours to run to overall. The aircraft also came with the ‘old black CASA’ aircraft flight manual which contained detailed charts in regards to engine performance, fuel flows, and so on.
Having had the Cherokee for only a week and wanting to experience some cross country flying in my very own aircraft, my wife and I decided to fly to Perth to visit our grandchildren. The first leg would be VFR and take us to Broken Hill, stopping for fuel at Nyngan, a distance of 287 nautical miles from Kempsey.
With reference to the aircraft’s flight manual, I diligently worked out that I would require 92 litres of the aircraft’s usable fuel of 186.1 litres. At a burn rate of 36.4 litres an hour, calculated from the chart in the flight manual, I would have an endurance of four hours and 12 minutes - an ample fuel supply for the two and a half hour flight to Nyngan.
Being ever cautious, on the day of departure I contacted the fuel agent at Nyngan to tell him of our arrival time. He advised me that due to an insurance problem no fuel was available at Nyngan, but that it could be obtained at either Coonabarabran or Cobar.
On departure from Kempsey and 30 minutes into the flight my GPS was telling me I had a headwind of approximately 15 knots and decided that Cobar would be my refuelling stop. Based on my calculations I would still have enough fuel to reach Cobar with an ample reserve.
As the flight proceeded, approaching Coonabarabran I noticed that both fuel gauges seemed to be falling towards empty at a rate I would not have expected on my calculated fuel consumption.
However, I had been advised by many instructors that the older type of full/half/quarter/empty gauges were notoriously unreliable and decided to use the information that had been calculated from the flight manual - (mindset?). Having passed Nyngan, the fuel gauges were now informing me that I possibly wouldn’t have enough fuel to reach Cobar or return to Nyngan. Recheck of the figures. No, the gauges must be wrongly calibrated - after all it is an old VFR aircraft!
Turning onto finals at Cobar a cough and splutter from the engine confirmed my worst fears - we were about to run out of fuel! A quick change to the other tank and the engine revs picked up. We landed uneventfully and on refuelling I discovered that the aircraft had exactly one litre of fuel remaining in its tanks.
What had gone wrong?
Firstly, I had a mindset that these particular fuel gauges were unreliable and refused to believe what they were telling me. Secondly, I later discovered that the aircraft in fact would actually use 44 litres/per hour at best, not the 36.4 as stated by the flight manual.
This would never happen to me again. In went a fuel flow gauge (coupled to the GPS) and the panel placarded with the aircraft’s maximum endurance.
Never say never
Despite taking these precautionary measures, it happened a second time. This time we were staying at Windorah with the intention of visiting the Birdsville Races, returning to Windorah the same day. The planned return trip Windorah/Birdsville/Windorah could be completed (based on the weather I had obtained) without refuelling at Birdsville with a reserve of approximately 30 minutes. After an uneventful flight to Birdsville and with my departure for Windorah delayed by the socialising of my passengers I would complete the flight as ‘night VFR’.
As we approached Windorah the night was moonless with nil cloud. At the top of my descent I switched on the Pilot Activated Lighting of the runway (so I thought) using the frequency in my latest ERSA. Overhead Windorah I was disturbed to see no runway lights visible. Using Comm 2 I again attempted to activate the runway lights to no avail. At this stage I glanced at the fuel flow gauge which indicated I had 20 minutes of fuel remaining at my present burn rate. With no HF radio, no alternate airport and no mobile phone, my options at this stage were limited to say the least.
I decided my best course of action was to commence an NDB approach, which I knew would align me with the finals for a runway 04 landing. This plus using a ‘timing’ method I had been taught years ago, and with the Windorah hotel lights as a final approach ‘fix’, we continued our approach.
When I went to turn on the landing light over the hotel, blackness still greeted my forward vision. About 30 seconds later, and to my relief and the amazement of my passengers, the aircraft ‘fell’ onto the runway from about 20 feet, albeit off the centre line.
What had gone wrong?
Firstly, I had failed to get the current NOTAMs for Windorah. There had been an upgrade of the Pilot Activated Lighting system just one month before and the frequency had changed - something I would have known had I bothered with a NOTAM.
Secondly, the landing light was not unserviceable but had been covered with thick dust, making it useless.
Finally, even though I had the opportunity to refuel the aircraft at Birdsville (to be on the safe side) I had not availed myself of this opportunity through complacency.
Do I laugh at pilots who run out of fuel? Not now.